Reduction-gearing.



C. H. CLARK.

REDUCTION GEARING- APPLICATION FILED MAR. 5. 1912.

Patented June 8, 1915.

2 SHETSSHEET 1.

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c. H. CLARK. REDUCTION GEARING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 5, 1912. I

' Patented June 8, 1915.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

wi/tvvwoaoc A C- JLcuL/k Y atte M421 CHARLES H. CLARK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BEDUcTIoN-GEARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 8, 1915.

Application filed March 5, 1912. SerIalNo. 681,792.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, CHARLES H. CLARK, a citizen, of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reduction-Gearing,of which the following is a' full, clear, and exact description.

In the. used prime movers in which the power shaft rotates at a high rate of speed it is in many cases necessary to reduce the speed by means of reducing gears or other mechanical devices for the purpose, in order to employ such prime movers efliciently for driving purposes where a relatively low speed is demanded. This is particularly true in the case of prime movers of the socalled turbine type, in which, as is well known, the rotor revolves at a very high speed; whereas the apparatus to be driven, asfor exam le the propeller or side-wheels of, a ship, requently requires a speed far below the minimum speed of the turbine. Such requirements have led to the development ofv'arious' reducing devices. Some of these devices are notoriously impracticable, while others which promised well have not accomplished the results anticipated for' them. Even the best have, as is well known, been found to possess drawbacks which militate seriously against their extensive use and confine their employment to special condiits chief object to tions. One of the chief of the drawbacks referred to is size or bulk, and weight, the reducing mechanism often being in size and mass far in excess of that permitted bythe surrounding conditions. This excessive bulk and weight is necessary, in the prior devices, to give the necessary strength and durability. This and other disadvantages found in various types of reducing mechanisms heretofore proposed have led me to devise my present invention, which has for rovide a speed-reducing system of high e ciency but. of small size and cost. 1

To this and other ends the invention con sists in the novel features of construction and combinations of elements hereinafter In the drawings, the part 10 represents the shaft of the turbine or other device, connected in any suitable manner to the powerreceiving shaft 11 of the reducing gearing.

In the present form of the invention the connection between the parts named consists of a series of spring-steel pins 12, between the alined shaft, the pins fitting tightly in apertures in the end of shaft 11 and in a collar 10 having a square hole fitting the corresponding squared end of shaft 10, as shown, the object of such construction being to provide a slight yield or give and so prevent sudden transmission of severe stresses from the power-driven shaft 10 to the reducing mechanism. The collar l0 fits its shaft loosely enough to permit ready detachment therefrom and to permit the slight axial movement of the collar resulting from flexure of the spring-steel pins. The shaft 11 is journaled at one end in the end wall 13 of the casing 1% which incloses the mechanism. Bearing for the other end of the shaft is provided in the manner hereinafter described.

The shaft 11 is provided with wide teeth 15, and constitutes in effect an elongated pinion. While for the best results the teeth on said shaft should be carefully formed, it is one of the advantages of my invention that the teeth 15, and others hereinafter mentioned, need not be of any special form, but may be-ordinary gear teeth without undue, if any, sacrifice of efficiency. It will be observed that the plain portion 16 of the shaft' between the toothed portion and the bearing l3 is of the same diameter as the said toothed or pinion portion.

Meshing with the pinion 15 at the end thereof next to the plain portion 16 of the shaft 11 are three transmission gears 17, 18, 19, whose shafts, journaled in the opposite end walls of the casing 14, are spaced equiangularly around the shaft 11, that is, 120

apart; said gears being in the same plane and being fixed on their respective transmission shafts 17, 18, 19 in any convenient portion 16 of shaft 11., Such plain'or untoothed portions of the gears therefore constitute a roller bearing for the shaft men- I tioned.

In a plane at the left of that occupied by transmission gears 17 18, 19 is a similar set of gears 20, 21, 22, arranged like the transmission gears first named but staggered with respect thereto, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. These gears are fixed on transmission shafts 20, 21 and 22*, respectively, journaled in the opposite endwalls of the casing 14. As will be seen, the left-hand portions of the peripheries of gears 20, 21, 22 are plain, so as to make rolling contact with the left-hand plain or untoothed portion 23 of the shaft 11, thereby providing an additional roller bearing for the shaft, as will be readily understood.

The gears being alike in size and number of teeth it will be evident that they revolve at thesame speed, lower than that. of the shaft 11, but that each carries only-onesixth of the power delivered by said shaft.

The shafts 17, 18 19, 20, 21, 22*, are

3 provided with pinions 24, 25, 26,27, 28, 29

meshing with a gear 30 on a power-receiving shaft 31 arranged in axial alinement with the shafts 10 and 11 and mounted in the adjacent. end-wall of the casing 14.

It will now be seen that the speed of the shaft 31 depends upon the ratio of the pinions 24,25, 26, 27, 28,29 to the gear 30, and that the speed of the pinions just named depends upon the ratio of the pinion 15'to the gears 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, thus securing a very large reduction between the shafts 11 and 31. With an apparatus con-' structed as herein illustrated and described, designed to transmit 40 H. P. or more with the shaft 11 revolving at the rate of 3662 R. P. M., the gear ratios are such as to give shaft 31 a speed of only 183 R. P. M. At the same time, the gears and other metal parts of the mechanism are large and' strong enough to transmit the whole of the power without liability of breakage or strain. The entire mechanism referred to is inclosed in a casing approximately ten inches in diameter and twelve inches long.

The shaft 31 may be connected in any convenient manner to the apparatus which is to be driven, as for example by means of a spring coupling similar to that employed to connect shaft 10 and 11. For thispu-rpose the shafts 31 and 32 (the latter being the shafts to which dpower is to be transmake a driving fit with their sockets.

To prevent axial movement of shaft 11 toward the left it is arranged to abut against therecessed inner end of shaft 31, and to prevent rightward 'movement the shaft is provided with anaxially movable collar 36 between the shaft 31 and the faces of gears 20, 21, 22, with a pin 37 extending through the shaft 11 with its ends projecting into slots 36 in said collar, as shown in Fig. 1. It will therefore be seen that pressure tending to urge the shaft 11 toward the right will be resisted by the pin 37 pressing the collar against gears 20, 21, 22. The latter are held by the gears 17 18, 19, against which they bear, while the last-named gears bear against the-stationary end-wall of the 1 of care required to locate the bearings for the shafts the bearings in the end-wall ofthe casing through which the shaft 31 extends are first madeand the partsaSSembled, but leaving the bearings in the other end-wall, for the shafts 17 18 19 20, 21, 22, unbabbitted. The shaft 31 being then locked or held from rotation, in any convenient manner, a twisting stress is applied to shaft 11. This will cause all the gears and pinions to engage and assume their respective shares of the stress. The bearings in the end-wall through which the shaft 11 extends are now babbitted in any convenient manner,. after which the stress applied to said shaft may be relieved, leaving the shafts and gears in the exact positions resulting from such stress. These positions may involve a slight twist, or bend,

or both, of one or another of the shafts, but

11 retracted, thereby drawing the pin into i the slots 36 in the collar. The opposite end-wall, with the shaft 31 and gear 30 in place, is now brought into position on the casing, the shafts 17, 18 19 20, 21, 22, extending through their bearings and the pinions 24:, 25, 26, 27, 28,29, sliding into mesh with the gear 30. The last mentioned end-wall is now secured in place.

To remove the driving pinion (the shaft 11) without removing the gears meshing with 'it, the driven shaft 31 is first drawn out, leaving the gear 30 supported by the pinions 24, 25. 29, after which the shaft 11 is pushed in. This 'permits the. collar 36 to be slippedjback on the shaft, which allows the pin 37 to be removed. The shaft or pinion 11 can then be drawn out, leaving the gears 17, 18. 22 in place.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that my invention provides an apparatus by which a large reduction of speed may beobtained, and that the apparatus itself is compact in arrangement and also small in size. It will also be apparent that the apparatus can be used to increase instead of reduce speed, by applying the power to the shaft 31 and taking the power from the shaft 11.

While the mechanism herein specifically illustrated and described is the preferred form of the invention, being highly efficient for the purpose intended, it is to be understood that the invention'is not limited to said mechanism but is capable of embodiment in other forms without departure from its proper spirit and scope as defined by the following claims.

I claim: 1 I

1. In a reduction gearing, in combination, a driving pinion; a plurality of shafts spaced around the driving pinion; gears on said shafts, meshing with the driving pinion and driven thereby; a drivenshaft in axial alinement with the driving pinion; a gear 5 on the driven shaft; and plmons on said plurality of shafts, meshing with the lastnamed gear to drive the same and the driven shaft, the drivin pinion being removable axially without displacement of the gears meshing therewith.

2. In a reduction gearing, in combination, a driving pinion; a plurality of gears meshing with the, inion and rotatable on axes spaced aroun gears meshing with said pinion, arranged alongside the first-named gears and rotatable on axes arranged between the first-named axes; pinions driven by said gears and a gear meshing with said driven pinionsand arranged in axial alinement with the during pinion.

3. In a'reduction gearing, in combination,

the pimon; a plurality of .a driving shaft a pinion thereon; a plurality of gears spaced around the driving shaft, having a portion of their peripheries in mesh with the pinion and a portion in rolling contact with the shaft on one side of the pinion; similar gears similarly arranged having a portion of their peripheries in mesh-with the pinion and in rolling contact with the driving shaft on the other side of the pinion; a driven shaft; and mechanism connecting the driven shaft-with said gears to drive the former.

4. In a reduction gearing, in combination, a driving shaft a pinion thereon; a driven shaft in, axial alinement with the driving shaft; a plurality of gears arranged around the driving shaft and meshing with the pinion; gearing connecting the said gears with the driven ish'aft to drive the latter; and means between the driven shaft and the gears to prevent axial movement of the driving shaft away from the driven shaft. 5. In a reduction gearing, in combination,

a driving shaft. a pinion thereon; a driven shaft ahned with and contiguous to the driving shaft; a plurality of gears arranged around the driving shaft and meshing with the pinion thereon; a collar loosely encircling the driving shaft between said gears and the driven shaft, and removable means carried by the driving shaft and engaging the collar to prevent axial movement of the driving shaft away from the driven shaft.

6. In a reduction gearing, in combination, a driving shaft and a pinion thereon; a plurality of gears meshingwith the pinion and spaced around the driving shaft; a plurality of gears alongside the first. named, meshing with the said pinion and having their axes between the axes of the first named gears; said gears serving as a supporting bearing for the pinion and driving shaft; a driven shaft; and mechanism connecting the said.

gears with the driven shaft to drive .the latter.

7. In a reduction gearing,'in combination, a driving pinion; three transmission gears meshing with the pinion in the same plane. and having their axes spaced 120 apart; three transmission gears meshing with the same driving pinion in'a plane alongside the first gears and having their axes midway between the axes of the first gears; a driven shaft; a gear thereon; and s1x pinions connected coaxially with the driving gears and meshing with the driven gear to drive the same.

8. In a reduction gearing, in combination,

a casing having side walls and an end wall intergral therewith, and a removable end wall opposite the first, said end walls being provided with alined bearings for a driving shaft and a driven shaft and having alined bearings for six shafts spaced equidistantly around and from the first-named bearings; transmission shafts all meshing with the 10 driving and driven shafts mounted in the gear on the driv n shaft. first-named bearings; six transmission shafts In testimony whereof I atfix my signature mounted in the other bearings; six trans- .in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 5' mission gears mounted on the transmlsslon gears in setsof three each, alongside each A LES H. CLARK.

other; a driving pinion on the drivlng shaft, Witnesses: I meshing with all the transmission gears; a S. S. DUNHAM gear on the driven shaft; and pinions on the M. Lawson DYER. 

